#arquiste

› A Grove by the Sea \ Arquiste

Top notes: olive, fig leaf, salt, fennel, clementine

Middle notes: olive, fig, rosemary, thyme

Base notes: balsam fir, pine needles, cypress, clay

› Initial impression (sprayed on new tester paper)

Smells herby and refreshing, the salt balances the earthiness of the olive and fig leaf. Smells exactly like getting hit with a fresh, strong breeze carrying sea salt through a grove of trees while the remnants of a clementine rest in a napkin beside you and the juice dries on your fingers. Definitely a unisex scent although it leans masculine but the freshness of the clementine and salt keep it from being overly cologne-y.

› Impression after sitting for two hours

Dries completely into a warm, woody fragrance. The olive remains strong but now pairs with the balsam fir, pine needle, and cypress into a deep, comforting oud experience. The salt plays with your nose, disappearing and reappearing seemingly at random but it's not unpleasant or frustrating. It's like winding down after spending the day on an Adriatic seashore, those last remnants of salt spray clinging to your skin and hair as you rest with a drink and enjoy the evening air surrounded by trees and the rich undercutting of clay dirt.

❛ Overall thoughts ❜

Here we go... a list of the Top 25 best perfumes of the century so far. -- Are your favourites here?

As 2024 came to an end, many of you asked if I’d compile a rundown of the best perfumes of the decade so far. I found the idea appealing — as you know, I do love a list — but then it occurred to me that 2025 marks an even more significant milestone. So, in my tireless and unashamed pursuit of geekery, I decided to go one better and try to put together a list of the best perfumes released since…

Nose: Rodrigo Flores-Roux

notes: lavender, bergamot, carrot seeds, angelica; akigalawood, ambrette, styrax, rose; patchouli, labdanum, tolu balsam, tonka

Opens with an "evil department store" sort of smell; slick, synthetic, ominous, elegant. there's a bit of a fruity "grape skin" note too, and a touch of spiciness.

We all, as the history nerds we are (yes, I’m talking about me and you all dear readers), have thought about what did a moment in time long gone was like, what it looked like, what it sounded like, what was worn and where it happened. Well, someone went a step forward and asked himself what did a moment in a certain time and place smelt like. That man is Carlos Huber and he’s the founder of Arquiste, a perfume brand that create fragrances meticulously researched with historical sources to transport us to another time and place. Each fragrance has its own little story with historical setting and place; so you can find something inspired by and Aztec festival in the 15th century or a night in the Paris Opera in the late 19th century. Sounds awesome, don’t you think?

And it smells even better.

Here are two of my favourite fragrances by Arquiste, both inspired by the wedding of Louis XIV and the Infanta Maria Teresa, and since we’re in a 17th century mood, I thought this was the time to share this with you all (this sounds like a commercial but it is not, this perfumes are just so so SO good that I wish everyone knew about this brand). Imagine this:

It’s June 1660, you are at the Isle of Pheasants in the Basque region of the French-Spanish border. Spain was France’s political enemy, so this marriage would give a new balance of power in Europe. Both royal courts are in a pavilion built for this occasion of pine and cedar wood.

On the French side is a 22-year-old Louis XIV, dubbed the ‘sweetest smelling monarch’, he had a never ending love for orange blossom (he imported a thousand orange trees from Spain and made the largest orangerie) and even had his own fragrance called Acqua Angeli, there he is all starchy and elegantly dressed and totally missing the protocol he presented himself to catch a glimpse of his new bride. His fragrance, Fleur de Louis, has notes of orange blossom, Florentine iris, Jasmine, Rose and cedarwood.

On the Spanish side is the also 22-year-old Infanta Maria Teresa, the Spanish Princess represents the peace between the two nations, perfumed with orange flower water (a quite clean and innocent scent), the rouge smells of roses, the Spanish perfumed leather gloves and the scented fan are there while Louis lays his eyes on her for the first time. Her fragrance, Infanta en Flor, has notes of Orange flower water, Spanish leather, cistus resin and immortelle.

Images from top:

“Portrait of Louis XIV”, 1661, Charles le Brun.

“The infanta Maria Theresa of Spain”, 1653, Diego Velázquez.

Fragrance Fleur de Louis, Arquiste, developed with Rodrigo Flores-Roux.

Fragrance Infanta en Flor, Arquiste, developed with Yann Vasnier.

Fleur de Louis main notes: orange blossom, Florentine iris and jasmine.

Infanta en Flor main notes: Spanish leather (17th century Spanish leather gloves, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), cistus resin, immortelle.

George Blagden as Louis XIV in Versailles, 2015.

Elisa Lasowski as Marie-Thérèse in Versailles, 2015.